The Uttarakhand government hopes to restore road connectivity to disaster-hit Dharali and Harsil villages by Tuesday or Wednesday as two more road ruptures are to be patched by the BRO and SDRF teams even though they were able to fix the washed away Limchigad bridge ahead of Bhatwadi on Monday night.
Around 1,300 disaster-affected tourists and locals were airlifted in the last six days while more than 60 were still missing.
“More than 1,300 tourists stranded at various locations and disaster-hit locals in Dharali and Harsil were airlifted to safe locstions in the past six days. We hope to completely restore road network to Dharali by Tuesday or Wednesday as major blockade at Limchigad bridge was over vehicular were resumed. This gives a big boost to search and rescue operation at Dharali as heavy more machineries andante power could be transported to the site,” said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Shariing more details, Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey on Monday said, “Work to restore road connectivity to the disaster-affected area is moving ahead fast. The Bailey bridge at Limchiagad was completed last night. Now, the focus is on repairing damaged roads at two locations Dabrani and Songad before Dharali. We hope to complete repair works at these sites and restored to the Dharali by Tuesday evening.”
Pandey said several heavy machineries requored for the rescue works were already transported to Limchigad after completion of Bailey bridge work Sunday late night.
A help post and one medical camp have been set up along nearly five kilometers road between Dabrani and Songad. Apart from this teams of SDRF and wireless communication team have also been deployed there while gas cylinders were being transported with the help of mules between Dabrani and Songad, he added.
Pandey further informed that essential supplies are being provided to the affected regions transshipment system where roads are still blocked and they are cutoff from other part.
The Garhwal commissioner further informed that 66 persons, including nine army jawans from disaster-hit area were missing. Among missing were 24 Nepal origin workers in Dharali. Earlier, missing Nepali workers were 29 but rescuers were able to find five of them alive after communication network was restored. The rescuers were trying to establish communication with other Nepali workers as well.
On the other hand, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government has also started distributing its promised emergency compensation amount of ₹5,00,000 to the disaster victims in Dharali. More 98 people were handed out their cheques on Monday.
As the rescue operation in Dharali-Harsil area enters seventh day, airlifting of people remains the only viable option to shift the victims to safe locations in Uttarkashi, Chinyalisaur air strip and Dehradun.